Torpel Woburn
Torpel Woburn is a priest. Theology Torpel Woburn is a faithful priest, less concerned with the bureaucracy of noble houses and church politics than he is with ensuring the sanctity of the empire. He does not distinguish between noble and serf in judging the quality of one's faith, as a sinful lord would pale in comparison to a pius peasant. To Torpel, the soul is like an ember that must be stoked by adhering to the Ten Holy Virtues; if the virtues are neglected, the soul will dim and ultimately flicker out, but if tendered to, the soul will burn brightly. Figures of extreme piety, who have successfully prayed for and meditated on understanding each of the Holy Virtues, possess truly radiant souls and are called Arhat. Torpel believes a priest should aspire to attain such enlightenment, and lead others onto the path of light in doing so. Priests are above anything else educators, and have a duty to the Empire to tend to and cultivate every citizens' spiritual health through not just sermon, but through example as well. Torpel's beliefs on the Emperox as the living manifestation of Divine will diverges somewhat from the prescribed view. The Emperox is human, therefore the Emperox is fallible, therefore the Emperox is not the Divine. In no way could the glory of the Divine be contained by a single being, for in Torpel's view, all souls contain a spark of divinity that collectively makes up the entirety of the Divine. Torpel believes that the Divine lives within everyone, coexisting with and balanced to the individual's eternal self; this is why the cultivation of one's virtues is so important, as how one comports themselves does not merely reflect on them but on the Divine as well. The Emperox, in this model, is a human being in which the properties of the Divine are perfectly revealed, but they are neither omniscient nor omnipotent. The Emperox would essentially be a living Arhat, but whose enlightenment is bestowed by Divinity's will rather than through a lifetime of prayer, study and practice. Unfortunately, Emperoxs rarely embody such moral standards, for even messiahs might fail to exercise their Holy Virtues when beleaguered by the burdens of ruler-ship. Traits and Appearance ''Looks'' Torpel is tall and barrel chested, and tends to wear priestly robes suitable for his ecclesiastic position, though he prefers to dress in warm colors like burgundy and vermilion. He tends to have a menacing look about him, but it usually doesn't reflect his attitude, as he was just born with one of those faces built for scowling. He went bald at an early age, and makes no effort to disguise his white dome, though he does maintain a goatee and mustache. Biography Torple was born on Hiera, the tenets of propriety ingrained into him at his earliest age as his family had little tolerance for disobedience. His father, a Richter of the Crux courts and a deeply religious man, was a poor source of affection to his young son. Torpel learned little of compassion, taught instead to value strict adherence to the written rule of justice, and in being diligent towards all affairs. His father died of a natural illness when Torpel was still a boy, and with little attachment to the remainder of his Crux family, he set out to Andophael on religious pilgrimage. He arrives at the height of the pilgrimage holiday, and the scale of the masses are only matched by the grandeur of the temples they've all come to see. There Torpel met people of all walks of life: nobles both major and minor walked the Path of Virtue alongside corporate executives, while cyborgs and serfs ate vole en croute together on the streets. It was although Andophael was the center of the universe, where all shared in the reverence of the Divine. Within the Grand Temple, everyone was made insignificant -- everyone was equally small -- when compared to the awesome might of the Divine. Torpel experienced a religious awakening on Andophael, and so rather than returning to Hiera, the young Crux chose to join train as an acolyte... Training as an Acolyte Aboard the ___________ The Proselytizing of Man Out of Character Concept Originally a Burning Wheel character, Torpel Woburn is a priest who doesn't consider the privilege of nobility an excuse for sinful behavior, and possesses the physical strength and intimidating prowess to coerce the fear of God into people. My inspiration was the High Sparrow from Game of Thrones, but with the size and strength of The Mountain. Perhaps more characteristic of this concept is Helis from Horizon, Zero Dawn, as Torpel also possesses as infallible religious reasoning that justifies his zealotry, no matter how terrible his actions are. Torpel will interrogate, torture and execute people if he believes it will further the cause of his god, though it's worth clarifying that he is not bloodthirsty, and will always attempt to convert/redeem a perceived heretic before burning them at the stake. In previous settings, he was also a fire worshiper, adding Melisandre to the list of Game of Thrones inspirations. Though this aspect of his character has not translated well to Far Verona, I could not remove it completely, and is still reflected in his Belief that the nature of the Soul similar to an ember. This is perhaps not to be taken literally in the present setting, but in a past life, it was nothing but. Category:Characters Category:Patreons Category:The High Church of Messiah-as-Emperox Members